OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Durant scored 41 points, including the game-winning jumper with 1.5 seconds left, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second half to beat the Atlanta Hawks 111-109 Monday night for their
OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Durant scored 41 points, including the game-winning jumper with 1.5 seconds left, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second half to beat the Atlanta Hawks 111-109 Monday night for their eighth straight victory.
Durant scored 13 in the fourth quarter, including a 16-foot, step-back jumper with 25.5 seconds remaining that put Oklahoma City ahead for the first time since the opening 2 minutes. Paul Millsap tied it for Atlanta before Durant knocked down the decisive 12-footer while being guarded by DeMarre Carroll.
Shelvin Mack tried to throw a pass to Millsap on the final play, but Thabo Sefolosha knocked it away. Millsap led the Hawks with 23 points.
Durant’s 11-game streak of 30 or more points is the longest in the NBA since Tracy McGrady did it in 14 straight games in March and April 2003.
Durant had another efficient outing, shooting 15 of 25 from the field and 5 for 7 from 3-point range. During his streak, the star forward has had four 40-point outings.
Reggie Jackson had 18 points for Oklahoma City (36-10), which takes the Western Conference’s best record into a showdown Wednesday at Miami, the two-time defending NBA champion.
Raptors 104, Nets 103
NEW YORK — Patrick Patterson stole Deron Williams’ inbounds pass and made the go-ahead jumper with 6 seconds left, and Toronto stopped a five-game winning streak by Brooklyn for the second time this month.
Brooklyn had a three-point lead with 17 seconds left behind Paul Pierce in his best game with the Nets, but John Salmons scored on a drive with 12 seconds remaining before Brooklyn took its last timeout to move the ball into the frontcourt.
Patterson stole the pass and fed Kyle Lowry, who got it back to Patterson for his jumper. Pierce was well off on a final attempt.
Lowry finished with 31 points and seven assists for the Raptors, who moved 2½ games ahead of the Nets for the Atlantic Division lead.
Pierce scored 33 points, making seven 3-pointers in a strong bounce-back performance after going just 2 for 10 in his emotional return to Boston on Sunday. He had the Nets in position to win after scoring their last nine points before Toronto stole it.
Timberwolves 95, Bulls 86
CHICAGO — Kevin Love scored 31 points to lead Minnesota over Chicago.
Ronny Turiaf added 14 points off the bench for the Timberwolves, who snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Bulls and won for the fourth time in five games overall.
Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Bulls, who played without ailing center Joakim Noah (illness) and guard Kirk Hinrich (strained right hamstring). D.J. Augustin added 19 points.
The Timberwolves were also missing their starting center. Nikola Pekovic exited with a sore right Achilles tendon midway through the first quarter. He had one point and one rebound in 6 minutes.
Suns 124, 76ers 113
PHILADELPHIA — Gerald Green scored 30 points and Goran Dragic had 24 to lead Phoenix past Philadelphia.
The Suns led all the way over the hapless 76ers, one night after rallying from an 18-point halftime deficit to win at Cleveland. Phoenix made its first six shots and 10 of 11, and raced to a 16-point lead. Green made his first seven shots until he botched a fast-reak dunk.
Markieff Morris scored 13 points and had four blocks. The Suns blocked 12 shots.
Green and Dragic, Phoenix’s starting backcourt, combined to make 19 of 25 shots and the Suns shot around 60 percent for most of the game.
Michael Carter-Williams had 22 points and 11 assists for the Sixers, who have lost 10 of 12.
Clippers 114, Bucks 86
MILWAUKEE — Blake Griffin dominated the paint with 20 points, Jamal Crawford scored 25 and Los Angeles ended its seven-game road trip with a win over Milwaukee.
Darren Collison added 15 points and seven assists in place of Chris Paul for the Clippers, who improved to 9-3 while their star point recovers from a separated shoulder.
Los Angeles finished its trip 5-2, a franchise best for its annual sojourn away from Staples Center to make way for the Grammy Awards.
No better place these days than Milwaukee to end such a journey. The Bucks, an NBA-worst 8-36, were doomed by a 21-2 run in the second quarter.
Ersan Ilyasova had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Bucks.
Jazz 106, Kings 99
SALT LAKE CITY — Derrick Favors had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Marvin Williams added 16 points and 11 rebounds to power Utah past depleted Sacramento.
Enes Kanter added 16 points and Jeremy Evans had 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Jazz took advantage of injuries that have left Sacramento without frontcourt starters DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay for the past three games.
After the Jazz sent their starters to the bench with the game seemingly in hand, the Kings mounted an unlikely comeback that fell just short. Sacramento trimmed a 20-point lead to five in the final minute but came up empty on three of its final four possessions.
Jason Thompson scored a season-high 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Kings, who lost their fourth consecutive game. Derrick Williams had 17 points and 15 boards.
The Jazz set an NBA season high with 53 free throw attempts, topping the previous mark of 52 set by Houston against the Lakers on Nov. 7 and the Los Angeles Clippers against Brooklyn on Dec. 12. Utah went 12 for 25 at the line in the fourth quarter, allowing the Kings to make things interesting.
